St. Maurus, abbot and deacon, son of Equitius, a nobleman of Rome,
was born about the year 510 and died in 584. When he was about twelve
years old, his father placed him under the care of St. Benedict at
Subiaco, to be educated in piety and learning. When he had grown up,
St. Benedict chose him as his coadjutor in the government of the monastery. He was a model of perfection to all his brethren, but
especially in the virtue of obedience.

St. Placid, one of his fellow
disciples, the son of the senator Tertullus, going one day to draw
water, fell into the lake, and was at once carried away by the
current. St. Benedict saw this in spirit in his cell and bade Maurus
run and draw him out. Having asked and received the holy Father's
blessing,

Maurus hastened down to the lake, walked upon the waters,
thinking he was on dry land, and dragged Placid out by the hair,
without sinking in the least himself. He attributed the miracle to
the command and prayers of St. Benedict; but the holy abbot, to the
obedience of the disciple.

St. Maurus was sent to France in 543 to propagate the order of St.
Benedict in that country. He founded the famous abbey of Glanfeuil,
over which he ruled as abbot for thirty-eight years. In 581 he
resigned the abbacy, built for himself a small cell near the church
of St. Martin, so that in solitude and prayer he might prepare
himself for his passage into eternity. After two years he fell sick
sof a fever: he received the sacraments of the Church, lying on
sackcloth before the altar of St. Martin, and in that posture expired
on January 15, 584.

Gift of Miracles

St. Maurus was favored by God with the gift of miracles. To show
in what high degree the Saint possessed the gift of miracles, it will
be sufficient to cite a few examples of how he miraculously cured the
sick and restored to health those who were stricken with a grievous
affliction. It has already been stated, according to the testimony of
Pope St. Gregory the Great, in the Second Book of his Dialogues, how
when a youth,
St.Maurus rescued St. Placid from drowning.

A few more
examples of miracles wrought by the Saint, as related by the monk St.
Faustus (Bollandists, Vol. 2), who accompanied St. Maurus to France
and later wrote his life, will be given here. They were invariably
wrought by means of the sign of the Cross, and the relic of the true
Cross, which he had taken along to France.

When St. Maurus, at that time prior of the abbey of Monte Cassino,
was returning with the brethren from gathering the harvest in the
fields, he met a boy who was mute and crippled, accompanied by his
parents. When the father and mother of the boy cast themselves at the
feet of the Saint and implored him to cure their child of his
maladies, St. Maurus, having for some time given himself to prayer,
imposed upon the head of the boy his levitical stole, for he was a
deacon, and made the sign of the Cross over him, saying to him: "In
the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity, and supported by the
merits of the-most holy Father Benedict, I bid you to rise, stand
upon your feet and be cured." And forthwith the boy arose, walked
about, and with a loud voice praised and glorified God.

A certain Vicar, Ardenard, had been sent by Innocent, the Bishop
of Mans, to Monte Cassino, in order to petition St. Benedict to send
some monks to France. Arriving at a place called Vercella, the Vicar
fell down headlong from a high stairway in the place where he was
lodging. His body was so crushed by the fall that his life was
despaired of. His right shoulder, arm and hand had so swelled with
inflammation, that amputation of the arm was deemed necessary.
Recourse was then had to their companion, St. Maurus, who was engaged
in prayer in the oratory. Moved by the earnest supplications of his
brethren, and the misery of the sick man, the Saint cast himself
prostrate at the foot of the altar, pouring forth his soul in fervent
prayer. Having finished praying, he took from the altar the case of
relics which had been sent him by his master, St. Benedict, and went
to the bedside of the sick man. Having exposed the relic of the
Cross, he made the sign of the Cross over every part of the arm from
the shoulder to the fingers, saying:

"O God, the Creator of all
things, You ordained that Your only Son should take flesh of the
Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit for the restoration of
your people, and You deigned to heal the wounds and infirmities of
our souls by the redemption accomplished upon the sacred and glorious
wood of the life-giving Cross: do You also vouchsafe through this
powerful sign to restore health to Your servant."

His prayer being
ended, all the poisoned blood, by which the Vicar's arm had beer
inflamed, began to flow off from three different places in his arm,
and his arm was cured.

While continuing their journey and reaching the Alps, one of the
servants, Sergius, riding on horseback, fell from his horse and
struck his leg against a huge rock, and so crushed it that it was but
one bruised mass. Whereupon St. Maurus went up to the unfortunate
man, seized his crushed leg with his left hand, and with his right
made the sign of the Cross over it, saying: "In the name of almighty
God, arise and be cured," and immediately, to the joy of all, his
crushed leg became whole and sound.

When St. Maurus and his little band came to the church of the holy
martyrs Sts. Maurice and his companions, they entered it to pray. At
the entrance of the church sat a certain man who was born blind,
begging alms from those who entered and left the edifice. He had
learned that Maurus, the disciple of the holy man Benedict, had
arrived, the fame of his sanctity having already preceded him. When
Maurus and his companions had finished their prayers and left the
church, they found the blind man lying prostrate on the ground,
begging and imploring the Saint to obtain for him by his prayers the
light of his eyes. Maurus commanded him to rise, and pressing the
fingers of his right hand upon his eyes, he imprinted on them the
sign of our redemption. Thereupon the blind man instantly obtained
his eyesight.

Since St. Maurus miraculously freed many persons
from their bodily afflictions through the sign of the Cross and the
relic of the true Cross of Christ, in many monasteries of the Order
of St. Benedict from time immemorial, after the example of this
miracle-worker, the custom of blessing the sick with the relic of the
true Cross, has prevailed, in order to restore their health. But
until recent years, there was no uniform and approved formula of
blessing of the Church. There existed a number of old and new
formulas, which were essentially the same, but differed from each
other in many details. Some formulas were exceedingly lengthy. In the
face of these facts, the Rt. Rev. Dom Maurus Wolter OSB,
President of the Beuronese Congregation, petitioned Rome for an
approved and authentic formula. A carefully prepared and much
abbreviated formula was therefore presented to the Sacred
Congregation of Rites for its approval.

This formula was approved by
the Sacred Congregation for all priests and deacons, secular as well as regular
clerics, to impart
the blessing, provided the formula approved by the
Sacred Congregation is used.